Chart Detail

Social expenditure and relative poverty rates in selected OECD countries, late 2000s

* The relative poverty rate is the share of individuals with income below half of household-size-adjusted median income. Poverty rates are based on income after taxes and transfers.

Note: Social expenditure is government expenditure on social programs, such as Social Security and Medicare in the United States. The equation for the trend line is y = -0.2559x + 0.1528 and the R² = 0.1266.